Shorter, I Promise!

 Hello!

Each time I write to you I have to read my previous post to see where I left off.  This time when I read the last post, I was thinking, "Enough Already!"  

Sorry for giving you too much.  You don't have to know it all.  Geesh!

It is just that as things happen, I think that I could share that moment with you.  And when I do it turns out to be too many moments.  I need to be choosier.

I had a rainy day to do other stuff besides biking.  I drove to Winona where I went to Anytime Fitness and visited the historical museum.  Looking for a place to park in the downtown area I saw a sign for  "Red Mens Club", and I wondered what that was a moment.  Is there a large native american population here?  Wait, would they call themselves "red"?

Then it hit me.  It was a place for angry men to gather and rant about those awful "socialists" and "libermorons" and "election fraud".  It was strategically located next to a bail bonds office and across from the jail.  Just sayin'...

The museum was small but had fun stuff to see.  Winona is the place where Fastenal began (odds and ends hardware).  And Winona is the home of Watkins, starting with a simple tonic he sold door to door, it is now several buildings near downtown Winona.

The highlight for me was seeing how women used to get permanents... with hot rods.

The museum closed at 4:00 and I went down by the Mississippi River to a park where I saw a red fox.  And took note of a campground right on the big river.

Now that I am looking back on my pictures I am glad I spent so much time in the area because I got to do and see so much more of the area than a short stay would have allowed.

The day after the rain I drove to Lansborro and biked to Harmony.  Going over, under, and around obstacles left by the rain and wind.

In Preston I was reminded of the night we spent watching the Chimney Swifts return home to their Chimney at night. 

Chimney Swifts are endangered now because most people put caps over their chimneys to keep birds out.  

I learned from the neat display there at the rest stop in Preston that these birds don't land on branches.  That they gather food and nesting material while in flight!

There is an old school house with a huge chimney where the swifts return to nest each spring.

In Harmony there was a welcome to Harmony sign at the visitors center written in... some Asian language.  There must be an influx of immigrants to this area.

Our group took pictures in front of a wooden troll display at the end of the trail in Harmony.  But this year the trolls were gone.  In its place was a music park!  I liked that, I spent a few minutes making up tunes.  "No one is waiting on me, I can play longer," I thought. 

When I was about five miles from getting back to my car in Lanseborro and dreaming about a cool beer, I got a text from Terry.  He was enjoying a cool one at some place with music in Gatlinburg, TN.  "Hang on," I texted back, "I will have one with you!"

I soaked up the beer while Terry texted me about that bar/music place where there is live music every day.

One day while in Rushford I walked up the bluff again.

And came down a different way, called the stairway trail.  I didn't think the stairs would ever end.

While in Rushford I wanted to ride the Great River Trail near Trempeleau.  The trail is crushed limestone and at the northern end terminates at the Trempeleau National Wildlife Refuge.  I parked north of the refuge because I saw a trail that was new to me heading toward Winona.  I rode that direction (north) first.

It was pretty cool!  I looped back around but when I got to the trail...

I was on the wrong side of the guardrail.  And they didn't put any breaks in the guard rail.  So I must have ridden the shoulder over a mile before I could get back on the trail.

I took several wrong turns, once to a dead end with a plant covered in bugs that flew up and coated me and my bike.

I missed running over the head of this snake by an inch!  I surprised myself with a huge scream.  The snake did not budge, posing nicely for a picture.

I really enjoyed the nature area. When I saw a map of the National Wildlife Refuges around the country, I took pictures of Wisconsin and Florida.

I had a nice rest of my stay in Rushford, Minnesota and I only drove a couple hours to get to my next destination in Chippewa Falls, Wisconsin.

I rode after I got here yesterday, just exploring...  I found the DQ and had a blizzard.  I rode to a zoo that was free and open.

I set up camp under the only tree at the fairgrounds.

And I just kept meandering and found a place in the creek where we can cool off on those hot days.

As I was heading back to my trailer I heard music.  I followed the sound and ended up in a park where I learned later they have music in the park each Sunday from 6-8 or so.  Fun!  There were quite a few people and families spread out on the grass.  A nice surprise, but I still didn't dance.  I would have had to join the four year-olds and the 10 year-olds running around in front of the stage.

When I got back to my trailer a guy on a mower came over and told me that where I was parked was not the campground.  I felt angry.  There is only one tree and this site had electric and water.  It looked like a camp site.  And I had looked around for a map of the fairgrounds or the campground and found nothing.  I looked for a note to me (I had made a reservation).  He told me I had to move.  "Not tonight, but tomorrow," he said.

This morning I moved into the sun right away.  Then went for a ride on the Old Abe Trail before it got too hot.

Tonight my friends John and Sandy will arrive.  We had hoped to bike and hike, but today it is 97 degrees and tomorrow will also be very hot.  

As I sit there typing the air-conditioner is going strong, but the top of my head can feel the heat radiating from the roof of Lilac.

Time for me to quit writing and ride down to the creek and cool off.